The Sneaky Magpie

Another extremely busy weekend, juggling lots of tasks and managing to do some fun things too.

On Saturday morning I met a friend for her first bike trip in London, we started lightly on a 20 minute ride to Dulwich Picture Gallery. The gallery is in such a lovely spot and the works displayed are just the right mix of old masters, as usual there is a very good representation of the Flemish golden age which I adore.

As we started quite early we decided to go to Brixton and have a lunch at Franco Manca, we got there just past 12.00 to get the last table, few minutes later the queue was 20 people long. Franco Manca’s pizza is legendary and I heard many opinions by the locals blaming Claphamites for invading the place. Well, I visited with a local so I guess that’s ok? Anyway, the pizza is amazing and dirt cheap, definitely worth waiting for.

Back home for a brief moment and hubby and I were out of the door heading up to town to do a spot of shopping. Oxford Street was heaving so we got what we needed and quickly moved away to the quiet Kaffeine for some refreshments. They had some rather delicious carrot and lemon marmalade.

Sunday started early again, we met up with friends for breakfast at Gail’s, the morning was glorious with sun shining, market stalls unpacking and a pleasant company.

Back home to do some important mortgage paperwork, dull but it got done. Then we were off again, this time to Battersea Car Boot Sale, we had a clear idea of what we wanted and pretty much stayed focused. We have a long list of birthday gifts to get and a couple of people definitely would appreciate something vintage. A beautiful tile for my mother in law, a bag of figs grown in Balham for us (they were delicious!) and a sleek Denby dish for a friend (tried to haggle but the woman kept saying ‘it’s Denby, it’s the last piece of Denby I have got, no discount, it’s Denby!’ she was lying, there was a Denby jug just next to it, oh well).

On a way back home M smelled steak. Le Pot Lyonnais is a restaurant I pass twice daily on my way to and from work and it always looks tempting in the evening with tables on the pavement. So we gave it a go and I must say it was a proper French fair of steak frites and poulet.

So a lot of nice things but also a lot of mundane tasks like washing, house cleaning and grocery shopping. I need some rest now!

Last weekend I had to work.

Saturday started with beautiful weather, the sky, lacking vapour trails, looked very serene.

The work I had to do included going to all possible charity shops and car boot sales to get props and costumes. This is exactly when my job gets fun. I was zipping on my bike through Clapham, Balham and Battersea buying any granny style crockery I could get my hands on. After 2 days this is what my living room floor looked like.

The purchases included some stuff I got for myself like this Johnson Bros coffee set.

This amazing vase, a steal at £4 at the Battersea Car Boot Sale! And a smaller charity shop vase.

A cute gravy boat.

As M had to work as well (way harder than I did) we decided to meet up for dinner at Princess of Shoreditch for super delicious fishcakes and steak.

It was time for the first spring salad, I was really craving something fresh.

I baked some bread.

Found some 50p books in charity shops.

and added to my orange Penguin collection (in case I find the Ernest Race Donkey) from the car boot sale at 25p per book.

The shoot went well, all done and dusted. I am exhausted but happy to be left with my treasures, at last I have time to enjoy them.

Day 1. Good Friday. Shopping.

I was preparing for a big Easter breakfast with friends so in order to get the best produce I set off to Borough Market. The day started lovely with nice sunshine, I meandered through the stalls wanting to buy pretty much everything.

Beautiful gerberas.

Lavender.

Crayfish was looking at me.

Fat tomatoes.

The first of spring’s asparagus.

The last of winter cabbage.

And pretty much all other veg one can wish for.

Then it started to rain, and it rained badly. My friend and I decided to run to Tate Modern to seek shelter. We visited Arshile Gorky retrospective which was very fascinating.

Day 2. Saturday. Preparation.

The Easter meal demands a military precision. I was responsible for cinnamon buns which came out amazingly well, I used this recipe and M was making bread. I also made few salads and a chicken liver pate.

Buns got packed and we set off to see our little niece for an afternoon tea.

Day 3. Easter Sunday. Big Breakfast.

We started at 11.00 and finished at about 22.00. It was epic. Everyone put so much effort into it and absolutely everything was home made.

We all had our personal eggs.

We had a refreshing walk through Brockwell Park, stopped for hot drinks at the park cafe and ended up in a pub in Herne Hill. It was not the only pub we went to.

Day 4. Easter Monday. Suffering.

I am in bed watching silly films and paying for yesterday’s fun.

Wonderful Sunday morning, the sun is shining after grey drizzly Saturday. Everyone is happy.

We are having a small dinner party tonight and realised we don’t have enough dinner plates as we broke few in a kitchen disaster. The first thought was to go to Heal’s but then we reminded ourselves of a great little place in Columbia Road so 1h later we were heading East.

First stop was an amazing coffee shop in Kingsland Road, The Bridge Café. The decor is fantastic, it takes you back in time with the wooden bar, old till and ceiling fans as well as a plethora of vintage ornaments. The counter is full of wonderful cakes and pastries and the shop roasts their own beans. The barista is Portuguese and knows a lot about coffee, all the staff are super friendly and helpful. They make a mean espresso too!

Columbia Road Flower Market was heaving with the usual trendy crowd, I think I saw about 20 Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn look alikes. The spring flowers were abundant and we got some paperwhites and hyacinths. The house is smelling wonderfully now.

We stopped at Jones Dairy Café for some brews and bagels. I love the place, it looks great and the food is tasty, but the staff! Even though they are super friendly they are so slow and confused, there is no system so after receiving your food and drinks you may wait for the last cup of tea for about 5 minutes while 3 people ask you what is it that you ordered and was the tea white. After biting into caerphilly cheese and pickle bagel you might forget about it though.

With bags full of plates, coffee and flowers we headed home.

Seasonal afternoon snack of home made bread with cream cheese and cress.

This weekend was great. Having a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning made me clean my house and do grocery shopping early. After my friend was gone about midday I was left with a tidy house, full fridge and a whole weekend to enjoy myself without any chores.

I did a small trip to one of my favorite cooking and baking shops in London – La Cuisiniere.  Unfortunately they didn’t have the things I needed and as I was in the area I popped to the local charity shop instead. I always head for the book section, they sell paperbacks for 50 pence and I usually find some of the classics I am meaning to read. This week I got:

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, a novel I wanted to read for some time as I am a huge Bronte sisters fan

The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith which I never heard of before but it looks very interesting and funny

Hotel Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones – I though Fashion Babylon was not that silly after all, the plot is very basic but there is a lot of little insights of how the industry really works, I hope to fish out those bits from this book about hotels, and at 50 pence it can go back to the shop anyway. I thought it was serendipity having just finished her other book.

Even though I haven’t bought any bake ware I did manage to make some tarts. I hate making pastry but I like the idea of pretty tarts. So I decided to face my demon and make some. I figured the only way to learn how to make pastry is to do it frequently. Sweet pastry is way easier to make than savoury one, though.

The treats this week were hazelnut tarts from Skye’s recipe and super rich chocolate tarts from Jamie’s recipe. The hazelnut filling is like hazelnut frangipane, delicious with a hint of lemon rind. I added one whisked egg white unlike Skye, I can never stick to a recipe!

I also learned that I should trim the pastry before baking for a neat look, doing so after it’s baked ended up in a disaster, the pastry just chipped and large chunks fell off.

I popped to the Battersea car boot sale and got some granny cups, love them!

Watched Milk at last and thought it was fantastic.

Also watched Everyone says I love you and thought it was not that fantastic, I haven’t been lucky with Woody Allen lately.

I also guest blogged about my olfactory adventures on Signature Scent which was fun.

I must say it felt a little bit like spring on Saturday but I don’t want to get too excited as it’s not even the middle of February.  Felt tempted to buy some daffodils but restrained myself and settled for small pink carnations, I should enjoy spring when it comes!

The weather was glorious on Saturday, the sun was shining, the ground was covered with a film of snow and it felt chilly. A perfect day for a stroll down a market.

A friend  of mine and I decided on one of the less busy places, Broadway Market in Hackney.  This market is the perfect combination of food, fashion, antiques and books. You can flick through old copies of photography books while sampling wonderful infused olive oils and various cakes.

The street is full of cute little cafes, quirky shops and proper old fashioned English institutions like this jellied eel place:

And it was as busy as when it opened…

Fantastic vintage liquor cabinet.

I wouldn’t mind a picnic set for summer outings.

And some retro shot glasses (I am hunting for the perfect set).

Plenty of good quality fruit and veg. It’s a shame I live so far otherwise I would do my weekly shopping there.

Old fashioned candy – I don’t actually like them but the jars look so pretty.

We decided to stop for lunch in one of the cafes, it was called L’eau a la Bouche, we ordered hot chocolate to warm up and curried parsnip soup with pesto for my friend…

And ploughman’s for me. It was delicious.

Afterward we decided to stroll down to Old Street. There are some amazing buidlings along the way. They have so much character.

We headed to Leonard Street and had tea at The Book Club.

It serves as a cafe and you can play ping pong there, it also has got all kind of events like DJ nights, reading, fashion, discussion groups. A fun place and so laid back!

Then it was time to go home, I was exhausted as the previous night was spent at friend’s house for dinner which finished rather late. Btw did you see the amazingly bright Moon?? As explained by hubby it was the night when the Sun reflected off Mars and projected onto the Moon resulting in Moon shining like a mega light bulb.

Due to various events last week (work related) I have been feeling down. I took 3 days off and they turned out to be very unproductive, I can’t concentrate and can’t get excited about anything. Even seeing those bunnies didn’t make me smile.

Yesterday I went to Spitalfields Market as it was the vintage day but failed to get inspired and left empty handed. Then I saw Orla Kiely sample sale at Truman Brewery so I decided to check it out. The queue was long, I waited for 1 hour feeling like I shouldn’t be there surrounded by Orla clad women often accompanied by children, I was definitely not in the gang. As I moved up in the queue and started to see the items on sale I realised why I am not an Orla fun. It’s all very nice and good quality but it’s not me. I wouldn’t mind her interior design stuff which is to die for but her clothing is not my cup of tea. So being about 5 ladies away from the door I walked away.

Today I woke up in a slightly better mood. I have cleaned my whole house which was very therapeutic, went through my wardrobe and photographed a bunch of ebay stuff – I was very ruthless with my clothes so now there is a bit more room. I am only wondering if it’s worth selling stuff before Christmas? The post office queue will be horrific and surely people don’t have the time to bid in a pre-Christmas rush…

I also came up with a butternut squash pasta bake and here is the recipe:

1 butternut squash diced and de-seeded

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp chili flakes

1/2 tsb thyme

olive oil

salt and pepper

250g penne

100ml cream

handful of grated parmezan

Heat up the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Place the squash on a baking tray and season with coriander seeds, chili, thyme, salt and paper and sprinkle with olive oil. Roast for 20-30 min until the squash gets soft and slightly caramelised. Take it out and mash it till smooth-ish.

Cook pasta.

Combine cream, parmezan and season well.

Mix the mashed squash with pasta and check the seasoning. Place in an oven dish, cover with cream and cheese and bake for further 15-20 min until bubbly and golden. It’s nice to serve it with rocket salad. The green bits in my dish are spring onions, they don’t work that well but they were on their last legs and I hate food wasting.

Tomorrow I need to finalise the gift list and buy few more cards so I can post everything on Monday and concentrate on a gift for M. We don’t do big gifts for each other (or others), I hate all the money wasting and mindless shopping for items that will end up in a bin. It’s either a thing I am sure the person will love or just few food/beauty bits.

Now I really must come up with something to cheer myself up.